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Romans 3:21-26
We last left Paul in the courtroom of Gods justice, prosecuting the case against the Jew and the Gentile.
Paul had presented the irrefutable evidence, from the Word of God, which showed that all men, universally
are under sin; both the Jew and the Gentile have transgressed in thought, word, and deed.
There can be no defense against Pauls accusations; how can the word of man ever overrule the Word of
God? No, the case is airtight; both the Jew and the Gentile are guilty as charged; all that awaits is for their
sentence of condemnation to be carried out.
And theres nothing that they can do, to appeal that sentence; no work or deed, that can offset the fact that
they are guilty of their sins; no way of undoing what they have done, or changing what they are;
unrighteous sinners.
But now, someone else has entered Gods courtroom. He is an Advocate; one who has come forward on
behalf of mankind the Jew and the Gentile to represent them. And He approaches the bench, intent on
interceding for mankind with the Judge, to see if there is a way that mercy can be extended to the accused.
And praise God, there is!
With that picture in our minds, we now continue with Paul, in his letter to the Roman assemblies.
[Romans 3:21-26]
Remember that, in our courtroom scene, the Advocate is seeking mercy for the accused. Now, as you look
back over these verses, do you see anything about mercy? No. But the concept of mercy is present in one
of the words in this passage, which we will get to shortly.
What we do see throughout this passage are the words righteousness and different forms of the term
justification (justified, v. 24; just, v. 26; justifier, v. 26). What is needed for the sake of mankind is for the
Judge to extend mercy. What we will see is that the way in which the Judge extends mercy and its the
only way He can extend mercy is by Himself justifying men in His sight.
Remember that to be justified and to be made righteous are like two sides of the same Greek word. To be
justified is to be acquitted of all charges of sin and guilt; to become righteous is to be made right with God;
to be just as God intends us to be, and so to be acceptable to Him.
Now, this passage brings us all the way back to Pauls point before he began to lay out his charges against
the Jew and the Gentile. We find that point back in chapter 1, verses 16-17.
[Read Romans 1:16-17] Here, Paul is saying that the righteousness that God imputes to men, so that they
may be saved, is revealed in the gospel message, and that it is given to all who believe.
All that Paul has been saying since then is to show why men need to receive this righteousness; because
they are unrighteous, and stand under condemnation before the righteous Judge, God. And Paul has shown
that they cant justify themselves before God by anything they do such as the deeds of the Law.
So now, having proven that men cannot make themselves righteous based on their own doing, Paul is
showing how God provides the means for men to become righteous; so that God can be merciful to them,
and spare them from His judgment.

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Lets go back and look at each verse more closely.

v. 21-22a Paul shows the way in which men can become righteous. Paul begins, But now. But shows
the contrast to what Paul has just said in verse 20. There he talked about being justified by the deeds of the
Law no one can be justified before God in that way nor by any good works, in general.
But now, here is a way that men can be justified in Gods sight. With the word but Paul is bringing out
the exclusivity of the two ways he saying, its one or the other and he has just showed that good works
cant justify men.
But now Paul is showing that this way has now been revealed in the present time. And this way is
apart from the Law that is, this way for men to be justified does not involve keeping the Law of Moses;
doing the deeds of the Law.
This way of righteousness is apart from the Law; but, it is witnessed to, by the Law and the Prophets. The
Law and the Prophets is another way of saying the OT Scriptures.
We discussed a couple of weeks ago how the Scriptures testify of the Christ, through the pictures and
prophecies found throughout them. As Jesus had said, these are they which testify of Me (Jn 5:39).
So the way of righteousness is apart from the doing of the Law, but the Law all of Scripture bears
witness to this way of righteousness. This is the righteousness of God, which God Himself has now
revealed to men through the gospel; Gods way for men to become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.
This way to become righteous is to all and on all who believe. It is to all; the way is open, availed, to
all men the gospel goes out to all. But it is only on all who believe; this righteousness is imputed to
them graciously put on their account by God through their faith. As we will see with Abraham in the
next chapter, Abraham believed God, and his faith was accounted to him for righteousness (Rm 4:9, 22).
So what Paul is bringing out here is that the righteousness that God demands of men, God provides for
men, in Christ. And their means of access to this righteousness is through faith in Christ. Would that make
the righteousness of God accessible to all men? Yes; which is what Paul brings out next.
v. 22b-24 What does Paul mean, when he says, For there is no difference? The next verse helps us with
that; for all have sinned. Who are these all that Paul is referring to?
Looking back to his previous point, in verse 9 of chapter 3, we see the all meaning both Jews and
Gentiles are under sin. Paul is saying that there is no difference in how the Jew and the Gentile can
become righteous. They have both sinned; they both come short of the glory of God; and they can both be
justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus freely, by Gods grace.
Paul is laying out the equality of the Jew and the Gentile, before God; they have the same need, and God
makes the same provision for both of them, in Christ. And both of them obtain that provision in the same
way through faith in Him.
There is no difference. We would think, of course not; but we must keep in mind that in Pauls day, the
Jews thought they didnt even need to be justified before God; and once absorbing that they did need to be
justified, they tended to think that they could be justified through doing the Law.

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Paul is making a necessary point to his immediate audience here. And is his point really lost on the
contemporary world? There are many in our day that believe that God will accept them if they just do
their best, right?
There is no difference, between Jew and Gentile. All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Some translations have the word fall short instead of come short, including the NKJV. But let me
explain to you why I think come short is preferable.
The word sinned here means to miss the mark. Paul indicates the mark that sinners miss, right here in
this verse: the mark they miss is the glory of God.
Now, what does that mean? Is Paul saying that, having sinned, men cannot possess Gods glory? Can men
ever possess Gods glory? No; Gods glory is His alone; all of who He is, as the true and living God, His
divine attributes, are His alone.
Paul has a very particular thing that he means when he is speaking of the glory of God in reference to men,
and we find it right within the context of this letter. Turn to Romans chapter 5. Paul is speaking here of the
ramifications of being justified by faith, for the believer.
[Romans 5:1-2]
v. 1 Paul is saying that in being justified, we have also been reconciled to God; we have peace with Him,
because were no longer at enmity with God.
v. 2 Paul refers to the believers current standing, in grace; and then he says that we rejoice in hope of the
glory of God.
What is our know-so hope, that Paul so often refers to? The certain hope, the guarantee (Eph 1:14), that we
will receive a body of glory (1 Pet 1:3-4), in which we will live with our Lord, forever.
That is what Paul means here when he says we rejoice in hope of the glory of God; we take joy in knowing
that our lowly bodies will one day be conformed to our Lords glorious body (Phil 3:21); conformed to the
image of Gods Son (Rm 8:29). The word image is considered a strong synonym for the word glory in
the Greek, as that which catches the eye.
[Return to Romans 3]
So at this point in his letter, when Paul says all have sinned, missing the mark of the glory of God, he
means that they come up short of the glory that God has purposed for man: to be in His image (Gen 1:26);
a son of God, in a body of glory.
That is our high calling of God (Phil 3:14); our heavenly calling (Heb 3:1); our holy calling (2 Tim 1:9-10).
But it is far higher than any sinner can reach, on his own; nor can he ascend to it on his own merit, to attain
it. All have sinned; all miss the mark; all consistently come up short of the glory that God intends for them.
Missing the mark through their sin, men come up short of fulfilling the purpose that God has planned for
them. And since men are not fulfilling Gods purpose for them, men who miss the mark must be destroyed.

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But it stands to reason that if men cannot reach their potential in themselves, but God has purposed it for
them, that God must make a way for them to fulfill His purpose for them; to be a glorified son of God. And
that is just what God has done.
Sin separates man from holy God. In order for man to be able to fulfill his purpose, to be a glorified son of
God, sin had to be dealt with; it had to be put away.
And that is what God did, in Christ. God sent His Son Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world (Jn 1:29). Jesus was a lamb without blemish and without spot foreordained before the
foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:19-20); the one sacrifice that would satisfy Gods justice concerning sin.
It was Grace that sent Jesus to justify men; the grace of God. There was nothing in man to warrant the
sending of Jesus; man didnt deserve Him; man didnt earn Him.
God did not find the motive to send Jesus out of something in man. He found the motive to send Jesus in
His own heart; a heart filled with loving kindness and good will toward His creation of mankind. God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16). God gave His Son as a free gift to mankind;
an expression of His infinite love for them.
God gave His Son, and Gods Son gave His life for the sake of justifying sinful men. And what was the
Sons motivation? It was the Fathers motivation the love of mankind. Greater love has no man than this
that a man lay down his life for his friends (Jn 15:13, KJV).
Justification is the free gift of Gods grace to men; but it came at a great cost to God. The justification of
men came through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Redemption speaks of the liberation of a slave
through payment of a price.
Paul has said that all are under sin; men are captives of sin, ruled over by its power, and trapped by its
penalty, death. Jesus paid the price to free men from their slavery to sin. And what was the price He paid?
His own precious blood (1 Pet 1:19).
Jesus lovingly, willingly laid down His life, shedding His blood on the cross as our substitute, in order to
deliver us from the penalty of sin death.
Jesus, who knew no sin, was made sin for us freely so, by the grace of God that we might become the
righteousness of God, in Him (2 Cor 5:21). He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed (1 Pet 2:24).
In the courtroom of Gods justice, Jesus Christ, as our Advocate, approached the bench the place of
judgment seeking mercy on our behalf from our righteous Judge, God. And there at the cross God, in
Christ, reconciled the world to Himself, not imputing our trespasses to us (2 Cor 5:19).
The Judge and the Savior are One God One in their righteous judgment; One is their loving mercy. At the
cross, mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed (Ps 85:10).
The verdict on mankind had been rendered; guilty as charged. All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God. But in the courtroom of Gods justice, the Advocate, Jesus, was accepted by the Judge as our
substitute, bearing our sin and guilt, taking the penalty of death upon Himself on the cross.

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And that overturned the guilty verdict, for men. What is the verdict, now? ACQUITTED; the Judge
declares us free of all charges of sin and its consequential guilt. Justified by Gods grace a free gift from
Him through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
And what is left for you to do? To simply receive this free gift of justification from God, by personally,
individually taking Jesus as your Advocate, by faith. Justification is a matter of grace on Gods side, and
therefore a matter of believing on the human side. To do any less is to come short of the grace of God (Heb
12:15); to come short of the glory that God has purposed for you.
What does it really mean, to have faith in Jesus Christ; to believe in Him? It is certainly more than
knowing the facts about Jesus. You can know a great deal, and never believe in Jesus. You can know all of
the facts about Him; fully God and fully man; His incarnation, His life, His teachings, His works, His
death, His resurrection.
You can know many Greek and Hebrew words; you can know many theological terms: justification,
redemption, reconciliation, sanctification, glorification. Those are all good things to know; but the
knowledge of those things wont save you.
And you can have emotional experiences, what some think to be spiritual experiences, and think it means
you believe in Jesus; for you have great feeling for Him, and His cause. You find yourself regretting your
sins; you experience your guilty conscience; you desire to be a better person; maybe you even get tearyeyed in church. These things might lead you to believe into Jesus, but they are not belief, in themselves.
Maybe you have prayed, asking Jesus into your heart. Maybe you pray all the time for others on your
knees! Youve been baptized; you go to church; you take communion; you help the poor; and so on. But
none of these things will save you.
Its Jesus Himself who saves you; He is the one and only way which God has provided for you to become
righteous, so that you do not come up short of the glory that God has purposed for you.
You must take this in, through the eyes of your understanding, and receive the revelation of the Holy Spirit,
as He shares Christ with you, Spirit being to spirit being. You must obey the truth (1 Pet 1:22), as the Spirit
reveals Christ; and in obeying the truth a decision of your will that truth becomes true for you; and in
coming Gods way, He effects salvation in your life.
Paul now goes on to describe the redemption that is in Christ Jesus in a unique way.
v. 25-26 The term set forth in verse 25 can mean either purposed or set before the eyes. Although
Christ Jesus was certainly purposed the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) the
meaning here is that God has clearly set Jesus before mens eyes, showing Gods initiative in redemption.
Before the eyes of men, Jesus was clearly, conspicuously, even publicly displayed. And where did that
occur? At the cross.
Turn to Colossians chapter 2. Paul was sharing with this Gentile assembly what God has done for them, in
Christ. Paul had just spoken, in verse 12, of the Colossians faith in the working of God, who raised Christ
from the dead.
[Colossians 2:13-15]

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v. 13 He God the Father has made alive together with Him Christ. Through their faith, God justified
the Colossian believers, freeing them of their sins.
v. 14 The handwriting of requirements actually refers not to the Law (remember these are Gentiles) but
to charges against men. What are men charged with? Their sins.
Pauls metaphor here is of sins that have been written out on slate or scroll. Those charges have been wiped
out; the slate is clean. How? The charges were nailed by God to the cross.
Through the power of His endless life (Heb 7:16), Jesus paid the penalty for all sin, for all time; those
charges have been wiped clean, for the one who comes to the cross, by faith.
v. 15 This continues the thought of Gods work, in Christ, at the cross. The image evoked here is of a
conqueror who has been victorious in a battle. He has taken some powerful rulers as his captives. Now, as
his prisoners, they form part of his triumphal procession a public spectacle as the conqueror returns to
his home in victory.
The conqueror is Christ, at the cross. The principalities and powers that were disarmed at the cross
rendered powerless were sin and death, which ruled over men.
Through His death and resurrection, Christ has conquered sin and death; and He has made a public
spectacle of His victory over them even as He has returned to His heavenly home, through the gospel going
out to the uttermost parts of the earth.
[Return to Romans 3]
Paul says that God set forth Christ Jesus as a propitiation. What does that mean? First, I want to tell you
what it doesnt mean.
Among the pagan Greeks, the verb form of this word propitiate meant to appease the gods; to move
them from a position of disfavor with men, to one of favor; to placate them.
This is NEVER the way the word is used in Scripture. Man can never change Gods position, because He
is unchangeable. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men Rm 1:18); and God will always be wrathful against sin, because He is perfectly holy and righteous.
Gods wrath doesnt go away; it cannot be appeased.
Man can never change Gods position; and man cannot even change his own position. Man has no means
in himself of escaping Gods wrath for his sin, as Paul has clearly shown.
But God can change mans position, so that he is no longer under the wrath of God. How does God do
that? Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Notice that God is the initiator and He sets forth Jesus as a propitiation. Propitiation, in Scripture, is
always shown to be initiated by God, never by man.
The word propitiation here is a noun. In its other uses in the NT, and in most of its uses in the
Septuagint, it is translated mercy seat. The mercy seat was the covering over the ark of the testimony in
the tabernacle. We will be looking at the mercy seat next week in some detail.

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But for the sake of completing the thought here, we can see that Paul is thinking of the mercy seat
particularly as the place where once a year, the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice offered for
the nation Israel on the Day of Atonement, so that God, in His mercy, would cover their sin.
Paul is showing here that the mercy seat is a type of Christ. The cross of Christ is the place where men are
to come, to obtain Gods mercy; and the blood of Christ is the means by which God can be merciful
because His death paid the penalty for mens sins.
In the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, Gods justice has been completely satisfied concerning sin. And when a
man appropriates that sacrifice through faith, God can extend mercy personally, to him. And sin is not
merely covered over, but washed away by the blood of Christ. The sinner is loosed from his sins; he is
forgiven.
Through the redemption in Christ Jesus, God has demonstrated His own righteousness that is, His
righteous character, or essence. The word demonstrate in verse 25, and again in verse 26, means the act
of pointing out; particularly with the finger. It is as if God is pointing to Christ as the mercy seat and
saying, this is the proof of My righteousness to all mankind. Christ is indeed that proof!
How is Gods righteousness proven? Paul tells us. First, in verse 25, Paul indicates that God passed over
the sins that were previously committed; that is to say that past sins sins which were committed before
the cross of Christ were not judged; there was a temporary suspension of the penalty for sin. In His
forbearance, God delayed His judgment on sin, until such time that Christ came and put sin away.
But now, as Paul began in verse 21, Christ has come. Sin has been forever dealt with, at the cross. Jesus
paid the penalty for all sin, for all time, enabling men to be freed from sin, and to become righteous,
through faith in Him. And that way of righteousness has been revealed to men, through the gospel.
This proves the righteousness of God. God is just, to judge men who refuse His free gift of justification by
His grace, in Christ for these men are still in their sins. And God is at the same time the justifier, of the
one who is willing to come by faith to the Mercy Seat, and be forgiven.
Turn to First John chapter 4. John also spoke in this letter of his twice in fact about Christ as our
propitiation.
[First John 4:9-10]
v. 9 That we might live through Him; John is speaking of Eternal Life; as a glorified Son of God; Gods
purpose for men.
v. 10 Notice how John shows God to be the initiator; He sends His Son to be the mercy seat the place
and the way that He can extend mercy to men.
Now turn back to chapter 2.
[First John 2:1-2]
v. 1 In His righteousness, Jesus had the standing to be our Advocate before the Father.

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v. 2 In His love, our Advocate Jesus freely chose to take our charges of sin upon Himself, and pay for them
with His own blood. He did so for every man in the world; the free gift of God, graciously offered by God,
to any and all who will receive it; that they may be accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:6).
Next week: the Mercy Seat. Ex 25:1-22, Lev 16, Heb 9.